423 homicide victims remembered at 'Wings of Love'

The event allows families of homicide victims remember their loved ones during a Christmas tree decorating event. Each ornament represents one of the 423 victims.
Ayrika Whitney/The Leaf-Chronicle

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Family members and friends of homicide victims hang up their ornaments at Wings of Love held at the Clarksville-Montgomery Public Library on Wednesday. There were 423 victims honored at the event.(Photo: Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle)Buy Photo

She was only 2 years old when he was gunned down by his cousin in Cunningham in 1999.

But every year, she and her mother, Stefanie Wall-Baggett, celebrate Christmas with him — and hundreds of other people.

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Stefanie Wall-Baggett and her daughter Sammantha Wall hang an ornament for her father DeWayne Wall during Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Library on Wednesday.(Photo: Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle)

On Wednesday, they each hung an ornament on a Christmas tree at the Montgomery County Library at the 19th annual "On the Wings of Love" ceremony.

DeWayne Wall was one of 423 names on the list of homicide victims remembered and honored at the event.

This year, 16 new names were added to the "ever growing list," of victims killed in Montgomery County, said Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Lund.

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Assistant District Attorney Robert Nash hangs an ornament in memory of Keegan Metz, 23 months, who was murdered in 2009 at Wings of Love held at the Clarksville-Montgomery Public Library on Wednesday.(Photo: Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle)

The DA's office hosts the event in December to give families a chance to grieve together.

"The reality is you will grieve forever ..." Lund told the audience. "You'll never stop grieving because you will never stop loving the person you lost."

That's true for Wall-Baggett, who has since remarried, but still mourns for the husband who never made it to age 25.

"It's my Christmas with my late husband," she said, drying her eyes before the service even began. "I don't get another Christmas with him so I make sure I come every year. It's my way of spending Christmas with him."

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Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Family members and friends of homicide victims hang up their ornaments at Wings of Love held at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday. There were 423 victims honored at the event.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Stefanie Wall-Baggett and her daughter Sammantha Wall hang an ornament for her father DeWayne Wall during Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Family members and friends of homicide victims pick up their ornaments before Wings of Love held at the Clarksville-Montgomery Public Library on Wednesday. There were 423 victims honored at the event.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chroni

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Assistant District Attorney Robert Nash hangs an ornament in memory of Keegan Metz, 23 months, who was murdered in 2009 at Wings of Love held at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chroni

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

Families and friends of homicide victims as well as members of the District Attorney's office and Clarksville Police Department attended Wings of Love at the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library on Wednesday.
Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle

And she's convinced the event even helped bring her husband's killer to justice.

A photo of her and her daughter, Sammantha, then only 2, hanging an ornament at the event in December 1999 ran in The Leaf-Chronicle and sparked interest in a case that got little when DeWayne Wall was killed a few months before, she said. She also met and spoke to District Attorney General John Carney and he and Assistant District Attorney Art Bieber later filed charges. The cousin was convicted of involuntary manslaughter when Sammantha was 5.

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Family members and friends of homicide victims pick up their ornaments before Wings of Love held at the Clarksville-Montgomery Public Library on Wednesday. There were 423 victims honored at the event.(Photo: Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle)

The mother and daughter have attended every "On the Wings of Love" ceremony since 1999. It was started by Susan Marks in 1997 after her son John Long Marks was murdered after surprising a burglar at the family's home. This was the first year Susan Marks couldn't attend. The DA's office took over the event at her request many years ago, Carney said.

"It's a beautiful occasion," Carney said. "A lot of times it gives great comfort this time of year. It does a lot for the families."

The list of victims includes many children beaten to death by loved ones, teenagers abducted or killed by their peers, mothers and fathers killed in the prime of their lives and senior citizens killed in their homes. Many cases are solved but many still aren't, even years later.

In most cases, ornaments are provided by family members or friends. Some have photos, fresh or faded over the years. Others have simple names and dates written on angels, or hearts, or snowflakes and all sorts of toy or team ornaments.

LaToya Carney brought a new ornament for her sister Princess Clark-Jones this year. There is one from last year with a photo of Princess wearing a tiara. This year she brought a heart with a sentimental poem on it. She plans to have it engraved later.

Ornaments in memory of homicide victims sit on a table at Wings of Love held at the Clarksville-Montgomery Public Library on Wednesday.(Photo: Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chroni)

"She is truly, truly missed," LaToya Carney said.

She said the event is emotional but helps. Her sister was shot at home in June 2015. The man charged with killing her is awaiting trial.

"The worst is the holidays," she said. "Last year it helped a little bit to see others. This being the second year, there has been a lot of healing for me. To hear others, it does comfort your heart. I hate it has to be that way."